


a sky so blue

by tsukibeam



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Beach Scene, Established Relationship, M/M, no plot only fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-22 16:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17063000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukibeam/pseuds/tsukibeam
Summary: “Ignis. What're you doing?”“Apparently,” Ignis started, sounding utterly oblivious to the paradise around him. He typed something into his phone. “His Majesty has requested the fishing trip with Noctis be extended by a couple of hours.”“Fascinating,” Gladio deadpanned. “You do realize you’re supposed to be relaxing, right?”“And you realize we’re here on the Crown’s payroll, yes?”---Or, during a vacation with the Crown, Gladio convinces Ignis to relax.





	a sky so blue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ragewerthers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragewerthers/gifts).



> Happy exchange, ragewerthers, I hope you enjoy this~

Vacation with King Regis and Prince Noctis was everything Gladio had been trained to expect: security sweeps, hand held metal detectors practically everywhere, annoyed restaurant patrons and a hotel suite boasting astonishing views blocked off by flimsy but opaque and drawn curtains.

It was a shame to lose one of the resort’s best features but for the sake of protecting both king and prince, Gladio got it. Was grateful for it, even.

Before leaving Insomnia, there’d been briefings regarding the overall security of the trip as well as any contingency plan. Citadel staffers had passed out thick black binders with this information plus itineraries, contact information, all the usual. Everything was accounted for, right down to arrival times and weather predictions.

Said weather, of course, was exceptionally perfect with crisp blue skies and a scorching sun that made the ocean’s cool kiss of water that much sweeter.

All of it--everything he’d been trained for and the near constant sense of anticipation he kept himself in, ready for anything that might arise--made the brief moments he found himself in the ocean that much more of a release.

Gladio floated on his back, bobbing slightly in the cool ocean water and closed his eyes against the too bright world above him--the too blue sky and the unfailing sun. The water was a gentle trickle against his ears and he felt buoyant, completely weightless.

A relief--to not feel the size and shape that marked him as Shield in Waiting. To know that somewhere _else_ , Noctis was safe in other capable hands and, for the moment, just this once, it wasn’t his damn problem or worry.

He’d earned this moment and any others he could snatch up on this vacation and he’d enjoy every last one of them.

One day on, one day off for two weeks. It was rough-- _well_. Trailing Noctis and Prompto around the beach wasn't  _so bad_ , he supposed, better than busting his ass in the gym, at least. But again, that constant edge of anticipation, bred from being in unfamiliar territory. At least he knew Insomnia and all its nooks and crannies like the back of his hand. These beaches, with their secret coves and non bullet proof windows in the hotels...

Water sloshed over Gladio--a slightly taller wave born from a passing boat--and he up-righted himself, feet touching down on smooth, squishy sand beneath the crystal clear water. The water’s salt and the sun reflecting off the white sand of the beach was an assault on his eyes when he opened them but once he finished blinking and adjusting, Gladio...frowned.

Every eventuality, every possibility--trained for, studied, and memorized--except _this_. Though, in hindsight...of fucking course this would happen.

Ignis lay on a lounge chair, beneath the shade of an enormous umbrella--still fully clothed in linen pants and button-up, glasses pushed high on his nose, cell phone in hand and a tidy stack of folders on the wicker table beside him.

Gladio kept frowning, then sighed, then made his way to the shore.

Of course his workaholic, dutiful boyfriend didn’t know how to put away the phone and let his hair down. And of course Ignis didn’t spare a glance when Gladio came to stand before him, dripping from the ocean, hands on his hips.

“Ignis. What're you doing?”

“Apparently,” Ignis started, sounding utterly oblivious to the paradise around him. He typed something into his phone. “His Majesty has requested the fishing trip with Noctis be extended by a couple of hours.”

“Fascinating,” Gladio deadpanned. “You do realize you’re supposed to be relaxing, right?”

“And _you_ realize we’re here on the Crown’s payroll, yes?”

Gladio closed his eyes and took a bracing breath, head tipped back to the sky, praying for patience, for mercy, for...he opened his eyes and surveyed Ignis once again. Back straight, even in a lounge chair; pants crisp, even with the breezy material--though a few lines of sweat had broken down the front of his shirt, displaying discomfort that he himself probably hadn’t noticed.

And here was Gladio, half naked in his swim trunks, dripping with salty water, all bronze muscle--a feast for Ignis’s eyes and he was too damn distracted by something on his phone.

“Ignis. Babe.” He dropped his hands from his hips. Dropped his body into the chair beside--well, half on--Ignis, soaking him where they pressed together. Gladio grabbed the top half of the phone. “Give this to me.”

Ignis did look up now and, Gladio was pleased to note, also flicked his eyes down Gladio’s body for too brief a moment before narrowing them. “I’ve a lot of work to--”

“You really don’t,” Gladio said, his other hand moving in a sneak attack to Ignis’s side where it jabbed--and then caressed.

Muscle constricted as Ignis’s entire right side jerked with the tickle and a slight gasp of surprise tumbled from his lips and--Gladio smirked as Ignis’s grip on the phone loosened and he took it, gently, and placed it on the table atop the black folders. Within reach, sure, for Ignis to claim if he really, truly wasn’t in the mood.

But he didn’t.

Ignis let his hands fall to his sides, with one hand resting on Gladio’s drying thigh and sighed long and defeated, though not indignant or even irritated. Just...incapable of letting go. “What do you want from me?”

Gladio’s smirk turned sly and he gave Ignis’s long body a once over. “Babe, if you don’t know the answer to that, I can’t help ya.”

Ignis only rolled his eyes but they were soft and indulging. A flattered flush dusted his cheeks.

“We’re here on the Crown’s payroll, yeah, but our personal time is still _ours_. You need to relax.” As if to prove this, Gladio reached over and deftly undid a few buttons on Ignis’s shirt which, thankfully, at least hadn’t been done up _all_ the way.

The fabric fell open, revealing an enticing slice of skin that instantly lit a warm ember within Gladio. Only four days into this vacation and Gladio had yet to see Ignis less than fully clothed...at least not outdoors.

Gladio stretched his legs out, kicking up a bit of sand; the warm breeze carried the little grains down the beach, toward the area roped off by the Crownsguard. He didn’t even have to look hard to find them in their civilian clothing; their rigid stances and alert gazes gave them away.

The Crown bubble, forever present...and for once Gladio ached to escape it.

“Didn’t you say sand is an exfoliant?” Gladio swept his eyes over the beach, out to the jagged curve of coast beyond the Quay before bringing them back to Ignis. “Next day off let’s get some coconut oil, make a scrub or something.”

Ignis appeared less than impressed. “You are _also_  aware there’s a spa in the resort, yes?”

“C’mon, Iggy, where’s your sense of adventure?” Gladio leaned into Ignis, close enough that a few drops of water from his hair fell on Ignis’s chest. Gladio watched them disappear into the fabric and gave Ignis a wicked smile and dropped his voice. “Maybe I wanna find one of those coves Monica kept warning us about, have you to myself. My hands rubbing out all of your tension.”

“In that case,” Ignis started, still attempting indifference, but his breath hitched, giving him away. “Sand will be a detriment.”

“Sure,” Gladio conceded, leaning in to place one kiss, two kisses on each of Ignis’s cheeks, where his flush had only grown. “But you’ll make it work.”

“Hmph." Gladio sucked in a breath when Ignis slid a finger to the waistband of his swim trucks and gave it a snap. "You _have_ been awfully tempting lately..."

 


End file.
